Cover Eco-Optimism
Science Book
of the Year 1996

The book speak out
against irrational fears
and dogmatic pessimism.
Spiced with irony and
mockery, eco-optimism
deals with green
prejudices.

Eco-Optimism

From Dirk Maxeiner and Michael Miersch

Hardcover:
Metropolitan Verlag,
Düsseldorf 1996
ISBN 3-89623-018-2
342 pages
24,95 Euro

Paperback:
Rowohlt Taschenbuch Verlag,
Reinbek 1999
ISBN 3-49960-740-9
416 pages

Summary

This book is a plea for more pragmatism, realism, and confidence in the environmental movement. It is against irrational fears and shows how dogmatic pessimism hinders the discussion about the environment. Examples from areas such as forests, agriculture, climate, and traffic show how the protests of the past have lead to considerable improvements.

In the form of essays, sometimes spiced with irony and mockery, eco-optimism deals with green prejudices. How are forecasts developed, how can one, as a layman, judge them and what actually happened to the environmental predictions from the past? Do the old environmental arguments still apply in a changing world and how should society deal with technological risks? Which environmental questions are really essential and which are over-dramatised by fanatics or interest groups?

Conclusion: There is still a lot to do, but this is no reason to underrate the already obtained successes. Ecological changes are on the way, with ever-increasing speed, and will prove the doomsters wrong.

This book was awarded the prize: "Science book of the Year 1996" in Germany.